Currently, the development of planar display apparatuses is being actively pursued and, of the various technologies applicable, liquid crystal displays are attracting great attention because of their advantages of being light, thin, and energy-efficient. Particularly in active matrix liquid crystal displays, in which a switching element is integrated in each pixel, attention is focusing on a structure in which a transverse electric field (including a fringe electric field) such as an in-plane switching (IPS) mode or a fringe field switching (FFS) mode is used. A liquid crystal display with such a transverse electric field mode includes a pixel electrode and a counterelectrode formed on an array substrate and switches liquid crystal molecules by a transverse electric field substantially parallel to the principal plane of the array substrate.
In contrast, there is also proposed a technology that switches liquid crystal molecules by producing a transverse or an oblique electric field between a pixel electrode formed on an array substrate and a common electrode formed on a countersubstrate.